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A private company has outlined plans for sharing the risks of GP commissioning while generating profits that could eventually be shared by the GPs participating in the scheme.

The scheme proposed by Integrated Health Partners (IHP) envisages GP commissioning consortiums setting up a joint venture with IHP in which the consortiums would have a 20% share. This joint venture would then be contracted to manage commissioning, with the aim of generating savings through greater efficiency.

These savings would be retained by the joint venture, creating profits of up to £80 million a year if consortiums representing two million patients were signed up and efficiency savings amounted to 5% of current spending, or £40 (€47; …